Updates - 2012

Easter 2012

Coloring eggs and making a mess

Go Redlegs!

So cute when they are clean!

Evan was in town!

Allison and Jessica did her hair.  I'm hardly allowed to brush it but...

Loving the summer time

Just to get us caught up for a chunk of 2012.  It has been a crazy but great year.  Mitchell started off 2012 with tonsil and adenoid removal.  It was rough for awhile but that pretty much stopped all of his vomiting issues.  Bowel issues still abound but we'll take it.  Then Jeff took his turn by breaking his thumb playing basketball so that was a few months of surgery, recovery and therapy.  Next was Maura breaking her elbow day 1 of gymnastics class.  We were lucky and she was able to have a waterproof cast which made the summer much easier!

Now fall is here and Maura started 3 year old pre school.  Both are enjoying school and gearing up for Trick or Treat. 

On the move...

Halloween was fun this year! Both were pumpkins and the stuffing helped since it was chilly. Maura wasn't too sure about the costume at first but after she saw herself in the mirror she kept saying "punkin" and grinning.

Mitchell is on the move! He has the same goofy crawl as Maura with one leg tucked under as he goes. He is very excited about the ability to get where he wants to go but is still pretty content in general. The walker is his new best friend and our walls are taking a beating but it is all good!

Haircuts were last weekend and I think that Mitchell was more patient than Maura... Now we are getting ready for the holidays. I was trying to explain Christmas and Jesus' birthday but Maura was stuck on cake for birthdays so we'll see where it goes...

Mitchell loves to eat...

Guess we knew that already since I'm sure he is 20 pounds by now but we started with some "real" food yesterday. I think that more went on him then in him but he enjoyed nonee the less.

He is a super easy going kid (unlike his sister) and has a motto of "go big or stay home". This applies to bowel movements more than anything but... :-)

Mitchell is starting to roll - not when he is on the floor - but off the couch onto the floor. The first of many bumps and bruises to come. It's amazing that when Maura did the same thing we called the Dr and were ready to run to the ER... Poor 2nd kids!

It has been way too long since my last post but life is crazy hectic with 2 kids - I can't even imagine life when Mitchell is mobile! We are adjusting to a new life routine and the house is a wreck most days but thank goodness for our family that is here to help.

They are 2 wonderful kids and life is nuts but good. Maura is 14 months, talking, walking and soaking up everything. She repeats everything you say (even if Jeff and I are the main ones that understand her) but she knows what she wants! We drove through McDonalds the other day to get mommy a big diet coke and as I am ordering she says "fe fry" so I had to get a french fry too! We start swimming lessons in 2 weeks so we'll see how those go...

Mitchell is 4 months, weighs 18 pounds and is planning to play lineman for the Bengals. He eats a lot, throws up a lot but with the lactose free existance is a much happier baby! No rolling over but he is babbling like a champ and is super too cute to talk to.

They each sleep through the night on different nights so hopefully it will all come together soon. We are looking forward to a fun summer - Thursdays at the pool with Grandma and zoo trips with Lily and Nathan!

Welcome Mitchell Joseph!

Mitchell Joseph Franzen was born January 28th 2010 at 10:04pm. After a long night/day of contractions, walking the halls and an epidural with a boost he made his appearance! He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20.25 inches long.

Maura has done pretty well with him (other than pulling his blankets off for some reason) but she is definitely missing mommy/daddy cuddle time. Muskie is a lot more cuddly now that he is playing 3rd fiddle instead of 2nd but enjoys eating what Maura is now feeding him from her high chair. She is walking now - looks a little drunk when she is doing it but is having a ball and so are we. She is very busy and into everything! She also seems to come up with something new to add to her repertoire of tricks so she wasn't outdone by the birth of her brother.

It has been interesting so far with 2 kids but we are happy that we can utilize the man on man defense especially at bed time! Not sure what his bedtime can be considered these days but that will come (hopefully before I go back to work)

Gambling and Gatlinburg

We had a nice fall getaway while the polyurethane dried on the floors. Started with a visit to Erin with dinner and ice cream. Saw her home and met some of her crew.

Then hit Keenland for the first few races. Maura studied the program and picked a few winners. She of course used Great Grandma's method of $2 on the 2nd horse on the 2nd race.

Then off to Gatlinburg. She shopped like a trooper at the outlet malls (and so did her daddy). She has a yucky cold so we did some extra napping on Sat then headed for the cheesiness of downtown Gatlinburg. After we all got matching air brush t-shirts and carmel apples we headed off for more shopping and the Smokey Mountain Brewery for dinner. All in all a nice trip.

Just a few other updates. She is really close to crawling but not quite yet. She gets started then flops on her face - can't quite get there. She is clapping when we say "yeah" and still does her fake cough. In the last few days she seemed to pick up a "pose" when smiling at people. When someone tells her that she is cute or makes faces at her she leans sideways and smiles the same way each time. She's going to be trouble :-)

It's a boy!

With a very revealing ultrasound every week we decided to find out the sex of the new baby. He made his gender pretty clear so we'll have some funny pictures to blackmail him with later in life. All is well so far with blood tests and blood flow around the brain which is a blessing.

I go for an ultrasound every week to monitor the blood flow around the baby's brain. This "Anti Big E" disorder has me making the baby anemic. Anemic babies (in-utero) have faster blood flows around their brains because the blood is being taken away from other organs. So each week they measure the blood flow through a certain vein that runs down the middle of the 2 hemispheres of the brain. The number gets higher as the baby gets bigger so as long as we stay below the moving target we'll be fine. The ultrasound tech checks the baby and then measures the flow. She checks the numbers with the doctor and if all is well we are released. If there was a problem we would head to Good Sam for an inter-uterine blood transfusion. I also do blood work every few weeks to check my antibody levels. If those get high we would have to do a transfusion as well.

Back to Maura! At her 6 month check up she was in the 80th percentile for weight and height. She is 18 pounds, 27 inches long and seems to get bigger by the day! The gnawing has begun on whatever she can out in her mouth and celery keeps her amused for awhile without any choking so it's my new favorite!

She is making a lot more noise (low pitched grunts and high pitched squeals) which we know mean something but we have no idea. She is rolling over from her back to her front but not the reverse. She scoots herself in a circle but only in one direction... We'll get there! And as soon as we do I'll be wishing for the days she just sat there :-)